


In the tiger's den

by KuS



Category: MapleStory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 01:48:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17153015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuS/pseuds/KuS
Summary: Kinesis infiltrates the enemy's base to gather intel and gets into a tense situation.Warnings are in the beginning notes. This work may have material that may make some readers uncomfortable. Reader discretion is advised.





	In the tiger's den

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Freidynne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freidynne/gifts).



> Trigger warning: Violence, blood, death.

“Hey, can I ask you for a favor?”

“What do you need?”

“I have to go somewhere. It’s something I have to do.”

“Where are you going?”

He smiled before he answered, “The Abyss.”

“What?”

“I have to.”

“You’re going to go back? Does anyone else know?”

“No, you’re the only one I’ve told.”

“But why?”

“Because I’m asking you for this favor. I can’t ask anyone from Grandis.” He took out a locket of some sort. “I think I’ll be okay. Hold onto this for me and give it back to me when I’m out. If something happens to me, and I don’t return, could you…”

* * *

“I can’t make sense of these. There’s too much I don’t know to get an idea of the puzzle’s picture. Seriously, you’re away at the most inconvenient time. Are you doing okay?”

Kinesis sifted through the papers in front of him, taking pictures of every page he could.

“What’s this one about?”

Subject: The failed ritual of Sumana

Introduction

This report looks at the effects of the failed ritual of Sumana, and it also looks at the knowledge gained from the second ritual. It draws on information and accounts given by Iulus Unit 28, and Remus Unit 11.

Failed Ritual

The sacrificial candidate, known as Sergeant First Class Renz, was suspected of planning a defection from the military. When confronted, SFC Renz denied everything. When discussions reached a stalemate, SFC Renz used force to attempt escape. As he tried to escape, he was condemned for his treason and subjected to the abyssal ritual. However, because the initiator of the ritual was inexperienced, the ritual failed and formed a vortex. The vortex measured approximately 57 leagues and lasted for 12 days. [A/N - 57 leagues is near equivalent to 316 KM or 196 miles]

Effects on Sumana

Prior to the failed ritual, Sumana was a silvan city whose nature and residents flourished. After the ritual had failed, Sumana was annihilated. Life could no longer be sustained in the affected area, and surrounding areas became difficult to inhabit. After reinvestigation on Sumana…

“Yada yada whatever. I’ll take a picture of this and move onto the next one.” He did so and started looking at the other documents.

A possible correlation among vortex qualities and Abyss knowledge

“The Abyss? Does that have to do with the Root Abyss? Well whatever, it seems important. I guess I can look at it.”

Abstract

All knowledge gained from the Abyss is valuable, however, some information is more salient than others. Past literature has found significant correlations between soul qualities and the amount and significance of knowledge obtained. It is worth considering to see if there is a correlation between vortex qualities and the salience, and amount of knowledge obtained. It was hypothesized that vortex size, strength, and duration all positive correlate with the salience, and amount of knowledge obtained. The purpose of the current study is to observe the relationship between vortex size, strength, and duration and knowledge obtained. The current study reviews 12 cases of failed rituals. Results supported the hypotheses that vortex size, strength, and duration positively correlated with salience of knowledge obtained, but could not support that they had an effect on the amount of knowledge obtained. The current study has implications for planning rituals. Future research may investigate the correlation between soul qualities and vortex qualities, and should also consider investigating the Vortex of Verdel. The current study has two limitations: the sample size is inadequate, and access to information regarding the 12 cases was limited.

Kinesis skimmed through the lines of the report.

“Knowledge salience was defined as … Records written by priests were reviewed …” Kinesis was getting impatient. “Whatever, lets just skip to the end for now. The current study agrees with past literature that … Future research may investigate the correlation between soul qualities and vortex qualities, and should also consider investigating the Vortex of Verdel. The Vortex of Verdel is known to be the biggest outlier, however information regarding it is scarce. Recovery of the sacrificial subject Second Lieutenant -”

Kinesis heard the door open and several footsteps. Because they were nearby, he had no time to put the documents back the way he found them. Hiding himself was of the utmost priority. He crawled underneath the desk and tried to make himself as small as possible. His heart rate was increasing. He tried to rhythm his breathing, taking slow and deep breaths to keep them as quiet as possible.

He attempted assess the situation. “How many are there? Four? Five?” He couldn’t be sure.

The sound of footsteps scattered off into different locations of the room.

“Hey, don’t you guys think that the Colonel has been off lately?”

“He seems fine as usual, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“I mean, he’s been a little different ever since Verdel.”

“Yeah! Like after Verdel, but much worse? I don’t know how to describe it. He feels a lot more menacing recently.”

“Well the situation got worse, all the officers are more alert these days.”

“I know! I can hardly rest myself these days. I have faith, but the other world is so unknown. It scares me.”

“No that’s not what I -”

“Look just shut up and get the stuff.”

“…”

“How many did they say we needed to take?”

“Three boxes of gold, two of red, one of green, and one of purple.”

“Ugh, this place is a mess. Who was in here last? Why are there papers on the desk? I swear man, I cleaned everything spick and span. When I find out who did this I’m going to beat them so hard.”

“It’s not worth the punishment. No one else is coming for a while, just leave it.”

“Yeah, let’s just get back ASAP.”

“Aren’t the boxes supposed to be filled? The purples are only half filled.”

“What? No, they should all be full.”

“I can’t find any golds.”

“Look around some more.”

The door opened again. The voices stopped. While Kinesis felt threatened before, for some reason, now he really felt as though something was askew.

“Why are you all here?”

”We were instructed to fetch supplies, but some of the boxes are missing crystals.”

“I see.”

This person had footsteps that were discernible from the others. It had a certain feeling of dominance to it.

“This place is a mess.”

“Sir, it was clean before we set out. We will tidy it up before we go.”

“Don’t worry about it. Get everything ready to depart soon.”

Kinesis wondered how long he’d been hiding for. Maybe it was only a short time, but it felt like ages.

“I have to contact Jay somehow.” He moved incredibly slowly to minimize the amount of noise he’d make while bringing out his phone.

The sound of paper moving could be heard. Shortly after, the room erupted in orange light. Kinesis froze.

“Why don’t you explain to me what this is?”

“Sir, what are you asking about?”

“That’s not the kind of answer I want to hear. I want you all to tell me everything that you know.”

“Sir, I am unaware of what you are asking of us.”

“I told you. That is not the answer I am looking for. Now, I will give you all one more chance. What are you hiding from me? You can tell me everything that know.”

“We’ve already told you tha-”

The room flashed once more in white light. A thud was heard on the ground.

“Wrong answer.”

Scuffling and clamoring could be heard, but they were quickly put to an end. There were some splatters and more thuds. The smell of charred flesh and blood became apparent.

Kinesis felt a sense of dread. He felt nauseated by the smell and wanted to throw up. Numerous thoughts were racing his head. “I could wait until this person leaves. If they find me, I can try to push them back and flee. Should I catch him by surprise and fight him? Maybe I should increase the pressure in the area when they’re far enough.” He wasn’t sure how to proceed.

His mind drifted off when he shifted his leg slightly and was reminded of the locket in his possession. “Right. Ark wanted me to give this to ‘Alber?’ Sorry, I might not be able to.”

The room flashed in red light. The smell of flesh and blood was gone. The colonel walked in front of the desk and stopped.

“What should I do? Worst case scenario I can take off my limiter…”

Kinesis swallowed to ease the pressure in his throat. He resisted it for a long time, but he gave in as he felt he was going to choke. His body involuntarily jerked and he hit the desk, revealing his presence.

“You should have answered when I asked earlier. There are no more chances.”

Kinesis lifted the desk with his powers. He increased the area’s pressure and dashed away, but the colonel didn’t seem at all affected by the increased force. The colonel blinked behind Kinesis and grabbed him by the ankle.

“You are not fast enough.”

He thrust Kinesis back down into the ground. Kinesis managed to soften his landing, but he still took considerable damage. His body went feeble with pain, and he trembled greatly.

As he hit the ground, his phone and the locket fell out of his pockets. The locket opened on contact and bounced a few times. Kinesis looked as his phone, then at the locket. He struggled to reach for the locket, but the colonel stepped on his arm.

“Here’s another chance. Why don’t you tell me why you have that medal?”

“Medal? It’s a medal?” Kinesis thought.

“Answer me.” The colonel started applying more force, further crushing Kinesis’ arm.

“Why would something like this be important to him? It’s just a medal… Unless he knew that it belonged to Ark - ah!” Kinesis thought of what to do.

He managed to utter out in his pain, “It was given to me… I’m holding onto it.”

“And where is the owner?”

“What is your relation to the owner?”

“It is none of your concern. Where is the owner?”

Kinesis wouldn’t talk. The colonel straddled Kinesis, using one hand to pin his right arm, and the other to grab his throat.

“Here is your last chance. Where is the owner of that medal?”

“If you kill me here, you’ll never know. I’m the only person who knows. He said he had to go on a dangerous mission and has yet to return.”

“You let him go alone!?”

“Is he worried for him?” Kinesis was getting an inkling of the colonel’s relationship to Ark. He answered back, “Did you think I could have stopped him?”

The colonel hesitated for a moment. It seems that statement struck something in him.

“What is he doing now?’

“Why should I tell you?”

“Do you think you’re in a position to be saying that?”

“You can kill me here now, but you’ll never find out if you do.”

The colonel narrowed his eyes in irritation and grit his teeth. Nothing was said for a few seconds. Kinesis was trying to collect think of what to do next.

On the other side of the door, a voice called out, “Hey are you guys all good? It’s been a long time.” The sound of the door known being grabbed was heard.

The colonel answered back quickly, “Who are you looking for?”

“Huh? Colonel Alber? The second squad was instructed to retrieve supplies from this room. Have you seen them?”

“Alber? This is Alber?” Kinesis felt conflicted. “Ark, you were best friends with this guy?”

“I have not. Perhaps they got the supplies and are on their way back.”

“Huh, that’s strange. Maybe I missed them on the way here. Alright, thank you.” Footsteps were heard going away from the door.

“You are Alber?”

The colonel didn’t answer.

“Ark told me to return the medal to Alber if he couldn’t make it back.”

It was a subtle change of expression, but seeing Alber’s face express woe sent chills down Kinesis’ spine. “So he hasn’t returned from that mission yet?”

“Did you want to save him?”

There was no answer.

“Why don’t you come with me.”

“I cannot do that.” Alber got off Kinesis.

He walked off to somewhere in the room. Kinesis thought of this as his chance to escape, but his body wouldn’t move as he wanted it to. Alber came back and dropped a box down next to Kinesis.

“I can’t do anything to help him now, but you can.” He took out some green grossular and started healing Kinesis. “Tell him I won’t accept the medal unless he gives it back to me himself.”

“You’re actually really annoying, aren’t you? If you care about him so much, why do you make this so complicated?”

Alber glared at him. “Because the world is complicated. Do you think solutions come so simply? You idealists never understand.”

Kinesis wanted to talk, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. He understood not to press any further.

After some time, Alber broke the silence, “How are you feeling?”

“I should be fine enough to walk. I can still feel some -”

“Then leave.”

“…”

“I’ll see to it that you escape. When you give him back the medal, tell him he’s an idiot.” Alber got up and started tidying the area.

“I’ll say it for him: Why don’t you give him back the medal yourself.”

“The world is not so simple.” He said in a tired, yet hardened tone. “Most of the troops will be gathering to leave for another deployment soon. The appointed time is soon. You should make use of this opportunity escape.”

He said nothing more. After he finished cleaning the room, he left.

Kinesis put the medal in his pocket, and then picked up his phone.

“The screen isn’t cracked. Nice.” He turned it on and contacted Jay. “Jay, I’m a little hurt right now, but I’ll be on my way back.”

“Huh? Are you okay? What happened?”

“I don’t have the time to tell you. I have to leave now. Can you let everyone know that I’ll meet them back at the base?”

“Yeah, I’ll do it right now. Be careful okay?”

“Always.”

The call ended. Kinesis stopped and looked around the room. The papers were no longer on the desk, but now neatly put back where he had found them. The boxes were also put back in place.

He sighed. “What a troublesome guy. Both of them are.”

**Author's Note:**

> Subject to a rewrite. Maybe. I had a clear idea for this work, and then when I started writing the abstract/report, everything was gone. I wanted to drop something regardless. I'm sorry if it doesn't meet expectations.
> 
> I was going to write the entire study and include it, but I decided against it. I'm pretty sure Kinesis would've just skimmed it anyways, like he did in the story. Discussions are friendly. They are everyone's friend (as far as I am aware).
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions, comments, constructive criticisms (especially on my abstract), please let me know. If you know how to make the font size 12 and Times New Roman, please let me know :).


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